


Restraining Bolt

by Lefaym



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, dark leia, multiple character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 07:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6185329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lefaym/pseuds/Lefaym
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her power is exquisite.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Restraining Bolt

She breaks the interrogation droid.

The force of it hits him like a solid wall, though years of discipline and training ensure that he remains still. His very being crackles with energy as his link with the girl is broken. The droid, his subtle creation designed to tear open even the strongest mind, is a smoking wreck.

The girl clearly has no idea what she has done. Her screams have not yet stopped.

(A thought slips through the cracks: he sees another face in agony, and he will do anything to save her. It is the thought of a dead man.)

He raises a hand and her screams cease. She glares at him, and her fury is a living thing.

Her power is… exquisite.

He wonders if Bail Organa knows what he has been nurturing all these years. If he has known, he has wasted her potential.

Vader will not make the same mistake.

“There has been a malfunction. We will continue later.”

Her anger follows him.

 

* * *

 

There is a… flicker… in the Force. Something, somewhere snuffed out.

They receive a communication from Tatooine: the droids have been retrieved along with the plans, and three civilians executed for the crime of aiding the Rebel Alliance. An Obi-Wan Kenobi has surrendered himself to the Empire, and will be brought to the Death Star for questioning.

(The dead man screams.)

 

* * *

 

He should not allow this crude display. The destruction of Alderaan will only drive more fools to join the Rebellion; it will feed chaos where there should be order.

But… he can feel her fear. Her back is pressed against him, his hand is on her shoulder, and he can feel the anger and hatred swelling inside her. She doesn’t yet know that she has the power to stop it, that she could end Tarkin’s life in an instant if she so chose.

Her compassion weakens her. It tempers her anger and her fear.

(The dead man remembers compassion. He remembers it in eyes very much like hers.)

Tarkin lives, and Alderaan dies.

The girl will learn.

 

* * *

 

They bring Obi-Wan to him.

The old man tells him the names of the three civilians executed for their crimes. He tells him the name of the boy.

(The dead man’s screams are far too loud.)

His old Master dies.

 

* * *

 

He allows the girl to believe that her scheduled execution will proceed.

Her fear will make her strong.

He goes to her cell. He allows her to rail against him. He tells her of what she could be.

“Join me, and together we can defeat the Emperor. It is what you want.”

( _He lied_ , says the dead man. _He lied to you_.)

She refuses him with her words, but her feelings say otherwise. She lashes out, and a blast of raw untrained energy echoes through the cell. This pleases him, but she must learn to respect his power.

He reaches out with the Force and takes the air from her lungs.

(That other face is there again, in front of the dead man’s eyes. The dead man is screaming. The dead man is strong.)

Vader is paralysed as the dead man takes hold. The girl falls to the floor. (The dead man has seen this before.)

The girl lifts herself up and turns to him, and in an instant, he knows what the dead man knows. He knows exactly what she is to him. ( _How did you not see it?_ )

Her rage is glorious. He wants to reach out to her, but Anakin holds him still as she crushes his throat.

Her eyes are the last thing he sees.


End file.
